Franchise Tax Board of California v. Gilbert P. Hyatt

I posted an article earlier on Gil Hyatt’s ongoing disputes with the USPTO.  He also has ongoing disputes with the California Tax Board that reach back to his early licensing revenue from his 1990 microprocessor patent.  The case is back before the Supreme Court for the third time.  See  Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt (Hyatt I), 538 U.S. 488 (2003); Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt (Hyatt II), 136 S.Ct. 1277 (2016).

The basic issue is that a Nevada jury found that California had used improper aggression in pursuing Hyatt for taxes that were not really owed.  At trial, the jury awarded Hyatt $300 million in damages. The punitive damages were reduced however by the Supreme Court.

The question that the court will focus on again this year:

Whether Nevada v. Hall, 440 U.S. 410 (1979), which permits a sovereign State to be haled into another State’s courts without its consent, should be overruled.

In its 2016 decision, the Supreme Court was evenly divided on the same question.

The board has asked us to overrule Hall and hold that the Nevada courts lack jurisdiction to hear this lawsuit. The Court is equally divided on this question, and we consequently affirm the Nevada courts’ exercise of jurisdiction over California.

This time though, that tie is potentially already broken with the addition of Justice Gorsuch.

Read more at ScotusBlog: http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/franchise-tax-board-of-california-v-hyatt-2/

 

14 thoughts on “Franchise Tax Board of California v. Gilbert P. Hyatt

  1. 3

    Why does a party get a redo in the same case if there has already been a Supreme Court decision on the issue?

    1. 3.1

      Gil Hyatt isn’t just “a party”. Gil Hyatt paid big money for Neil Gorsuch’s seat and he wants his entitlement.

      When he isn’t buying the Supreme Court so he can line his pockets and the pockets of his rich white daddy friends in the Repu k k ke party, he’s using his money to put irredeemably greedy big0t sk umb@gs like Dana Rohrabacher in Congress.

      1. 3.1.1

        Gil Hyatt isn’t the “party”. The “party” asking for a redo is the Franchise Tax Board of California.

    2. 3.2

      To answer my own question, it appears four justices bought into the cert. petition’s weak one-paragraph Agostini argument. Regardless of what the Supreme Court justices would like to do with Nevada v. Hall, those with any ideological consistency for the law of the case should dismiss the appeal as improvidently granted and wait for the next appropriate vehicle to judicially enact interstate sovereign immunity.

  2. 2

    Every billionaire who cares about gov’s doing such things to American billionaires should strongly root for Gil.

    Fixed for accuracy.

    Merkins love their rich white daddies! Gotta give em more money and some women to grope. Then they’ll lead us to paradise.

      1. 2.1.1

        Meet “anon”.

        He was born yesterday. And he doesn’t like to talk about stuff that highlights his failings as a decent human being. Like the fact that he can’t see any important differences between the two major political parties in the US.

        Well, “anon”, one party is filled with r@ cist pieces of shirt and is constantly blowing dog whistles to appeal to r@ cist voters who think that brown people are sub-human animals.

        The other party is filled with people like me who aren’t afraid to expose the intellectual and moral failings of know-nothing glibertarian hypocrites like you.

        Need more information? Just ask.

        1. 2.1.1.1

          Your Accuse Others indicates that the rac ist here is NOT me.

          The rest of your mindless ad hominem is simply dismissed.

            1. 2.1.1.1.1.1

              Your rants just are out of place for any number of reasons, chief (but certainly not only), your bu tthurt feelings have zero connection with patent law.

              As for diminishing voices, tell me again exactly who has had their voice diminished most through posts being expunged here.

              Tell me again exactly who has had more posts expunged than all others combined.

              Have you figured that out yet?

              Have you figured out how to get a grip on your feelings and find an appropriate forum?

        2. 2.1.1.2

          “to appeal to r@ cist voters who think that brown people are sub-human animals.”

          *Is MM and rhetorically tends to his vote plantation*

  3. 1

    The things CA’s tax board did to Gil were despicable, and illegal.

    Everyone who cares about gov’s doing such things to Americans should strongly root for Gil.

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